BACKGROUND: In traditional medicine in some Asian countries, including Iran, there is a belief that camphor is a suppressor of sexual activity. Not only has the validity of this hypothesis not been established, but also studies in this field are very limited.  OBJECTIVES: In this study, we investigated the effects of camphor on sperm quality in mice, and to protect sperm damage vitamin E as an antioxidant was used. METHODS: This study was conducted on 30 adult male mice (balb/c) with weight range 20-25 gr in 5 groups. First group was control (CO) and treated with normal saline,  groups  2 and 3 were sham groups treated respectively with Olive oil (OL) and the combination of olive oil and vitamin E (OL+E), and finally, two experimental groups were treated using camphor (CA) and camphor with vitamin E (CA+E). Camphor at doses of 30 mg/kg/day and vitamin E at doses of 100 mg/kg/day were prepared. All materials were administered orally (gavage). After 35 days semen were collected from tail of epididymis, and then total count, motility, viability, nuclear maturity, and DNA damage were examined. RESULTS: Results showed significant reduction in sperm total count, percentage of viability, increase in  the number of immature sperms and  no significant difference in rate of motile sperms and sperms with damaged DNA in groups that received Camphor was observed. Vitamin E as a strong antioxidant administered lightly was able to reduce the effects of  Camphor on viable and mature sperms (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It can be concluded that Camphor could affect on mice sperm quality and vitamin E as an antioxidant,  was able to slightly reduce Camphor effects in sperm quality.

BACKGROUND: Increase in aquatic production is dependent on raw materials, quality of diet, feed manufacture technology and optimum feed formulation. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was investigation and quality control feed of FFT, GFT1 and GFT2 of rainbow trout in farm and fish feed factory producers in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. METHODS: In this study samples of FFT, GFT1 and GFT2 of diets were randomly taken from farm and fish feed factory producers in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. Samples were analyzed for moisture, crud protein (CP), ether extract (EE), ash, phosphorous, TVN, Total count and coliform count. RESULTS: The results showed, diet CP was differs significantly (p<0.05) from many of the feeds. In addition nutrients of CP, phosphorous and EE of diets were differed slightly from rainbow trout requirement and in some cases were lower than instance requirement. The index of TVN that shows free nitrogen, was higher than standard in all samples. Total count and coliform count were different  between some of the other feed factories. CONCLUSIONS: Better management in fish feed factories  must be applied to balance the nutrient requirements  of the rainbow trout diet in different stages of growth, by using fresh, suitable and special feed materials.

BACKGROUND: Schistosomiasis is considered as one of the most important infections in ruminants. The flukes are found in the blood vessels of animals. This parasite has been observed in many countries such as: Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Iraq and parts of Europe. OBJECTIVES: Aim of this study was to determine the contamination of Schistosoma turkestanicum in sheep in the central region of Mazandaran province during the year 2012-13. METHODS: Based on the high mortality rate reported by Mazandaran Veterinary Organization in some herds in the cities of the north of Iran During investigation 21.2% mortality was seen in infected herds by necropsy; Schistosoma turkestanicum was diagnosed  as cause of death. Examined infected herds and fecal samples were collected directly from the rectum of sheep.  Samples were examined by flotation method and obtained results were analyzed by statistical tests. RESULTS: During present study which was performed in five central cities of Mazandaran, the highest infection rate was found in Babolsar and the lowest was found in Moghrikola region of Babol. Mortality rate was also evaluated based on gender and it was shown that mortality rates in females were higher than in males (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Ornithobilharziosis, is considered one of the endemic diseases in some parts of Iran and several epidemics have occurred in recent years in Iran. Because this parasite causes  significant economic losses in herds of sheep and goat in Iran, due to its location in the ruminants body and because Mazandaran province is one of the important foci of infection, more attention of the veterinary organization and its institutions is needed for better and greater control of infection.

BACKGROUND: The Mesobuthus eupeus scorpion venoms are known to contain α-toxin peptides, many of which interfere with K+ ion channel function. These toxin peptides have important value in  the pharmacology and physiology studies of specific K+ channel of cells. OBJECTIVES: Given the  lack of information of the molecular biology of peptides in the toxin of Iranian scorpions, the aim of this study is Amplification and Analyses of cDNA sequence coding for a peptide toxin from the venomous gland of the Khuzestan province scorpion Mesobuthus eupeus. METHODS: Total RNA was extracted from the venom glands of scorpion Mesobuthus eupeus collected from  Khuzestan province of Iran and then cDNA was synthesized with the modified oligo (dT) primer. By applying the Semi-nested RT-PCR using homologous primers, the fragments of 227 bp were amplified and sequenced. RESULTS: The full-length sequence of coding region was 174 bp which  contained an open reading frame of 57 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 6.434 KDa and theoretical pI of 5.12. It contains a signal peptide of 19, propeptide of 4 and a mature peptide of 34 amino acids. For comparison of this peptide with the similar sequences registered in NCBI database, BLAST program was used. This protein with homology to the “Scorpion toxin-like domain” belongs to the Toxin-6 super family. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple alignment of the putative amino acid sequence of this gene exhibited the highest sequence identity with lesser Asian scorpion M. eupeus venom potassium channel α-toxin-1. This high sequence similarity indicates that this gene is a member of α-toxin from the Iranian Mesobuthus eupeus.

BACKGROUND: Study on the effects of some additives to reduce the negative effects of physiological stress in poultry. OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the dietary synbiotic Biomin-IMBO and electrolytes-multivitamin solution in drinking water on performance of Japanese quail under physiological stress. METHODS: A total of 240 one-day-old Japanese quail (Coturnix Coturnix japonica) were randomly assigned to 4 treatments with 4 replicates and 15 birds each. Experimental diets were 1- diets based on corn and soybean meal (negative control), 2- basal diets+ dexamethasone (positive control), 3- positive control+ 1gr/kg diet Biomin-IMBO®, 4- positive control+ 2 ml/li water electrolyte-multi vitamin. RESULTS: Physiological stress significantly reduced feed intake and live body weights of quails (p<0.05). Feed consumption of stressed bird increased by adding electrolytes-multivitamin to drinking water (p<0.05). Dietary Biomin-IMBO supplementation decreased significantly heterophil:lymphosyte ratio in blood of stressed birds (p<0.05). The concentration of glucose in serum of positive control and water electrolyte-multivitamin group were lower than birds in negative control at stress period (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Dietary Biomin-IMBO supplementation could reduce negative effect of physiological stress in Japanese quails.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that high intake and level of omega-3 have a positive impact on insulin sensitivity in the tissues. OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the effect of omega-3 fat supplementation on glucose metabolism and insulin in  Mahabadi kid. METHODS: Twenty-eight Mahabad goat kids (3 to 4 months, with an average initial weight of 17 ± 5 kg) were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, with 2 types of feeding frequency (twice or 4 times in a day) combined with 2 types of fat (saturated fat and fish oil in 2% of DM) to investigate the effect of omega-3 fat supplementation and feeding time frequency on glucose and insulin metabolism. Goats were fed individually for 90 days. On day 70 an intravenous glucose tolerance test was performed after 20 hours of food deprivation. Blood samples were collected at -15, -10, -5, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60, 120 and 180 min after glucose injection. Data were analyzed using the SAS GLM procedure. RESULTS: The IVGTT indicated that Omega-3 supplementation had a significant effect (p<0.05) on glucose clearance rate (CR). On the other hand, with increasing feeding frequency, kids had higher glucose clearance rate (K) and lower glucose half-life. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that dietary supplementation with omega-3 fat and increased feeding frequency of diet improved glucose and insulin metabolism.

BACKGROUND: Avian infectious bronchitis (IB) is an economically important poultry disease. The emergence of new infectious bronchitis virus genotypes has complicated IB control programs. Objectives: This is the first comprehensive molecular analysis of the Nucleocapsid (N) gene of Iranian IBVs. Methods: The nucleocapsid gene of ten IBV isolates (which belonges to four different genotypes) was amplified using specific primers. The phylogenetic trees were constructed based on nucleotide and amino acid sequences of “N” gene. Results: IBV genotyping based on “N” gene showed similar IBV classification which was obtained from spike gene analysis and ten isolates  belonged to Massachusetts, QX, 793/B and Variant-2 genotypes. Different strains had 89.97- 99.75% homology in their amino acid sequences. The highest nucleotide sequence similarity was observed between IBKG-1 and IBKG-8 (793/B type IBVs), while the lowest was seen between IBKG-5 and IBKG-9 (QX- type and Variant-2 type) IBV isolates. This low similarity is of an interest because the N protein is highly conserved among different IBV strains. “N” Protein structural analysis revealed that the isolates has 8to 10 alpha helices and 6 to 8 beta sheets. Conclusions: The present study provided basic information to develop recombinant nucleocapsid proteins that are applicable in rapid diagnostic tests and ELISA and recombinant vaccines.

BACKGROUND: Based on the information no research has been done on the identification and isolation of anaerobic fungi in the Baloochi sheep’s rumen in the dry climate up to now. Objectives: The purpose of this research was the separation and study of the appearance morphology of anaerobic fungi in the Baloochi sheep’s rumen in Sistan region. Methods: The semi-defined medium environment was used in this research for cultivation, separation and purification of anaerobic fungi. Sampling from the solid and liquid contents of 50 Baloochi sheep was done randomly in Zabol slaughterhouse and these samples were used as the source of fungus to inoculation to culture. The roll bottle method was used for purification of rumen fungi. The antibiotic solutions (ampicillin, penicillin, streptomycin, oxytetracycline and chloramphenicol) were used for inhibiting growth of bacteria. Samples of pure fungi were transferred to culture and were observed after growth in glass slide with light microscope. The separated fungi were all monocentric and had rhizoid. Results: With regard to morphologic characteristics the genera of Neocallimastix and Piromyces and species of Piromyces communis, Piromyces minutus, Piromyces rhizinflata, Caecomyces communis was isolated in rumen of Baloochi sheep. Conclusions: With identification of these fungi species in rumen of Baloochi sheep, it is recommended to perform molecular test and enzyme extraction for further survey of characteristics in future research.

BACKGROUND: PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) is a biological product that has shown significant therapeutic results compared to synthetic drugs and some traditional methods. The advantages of this method include: PRP, compared to other biological materials, is easily prepared in clinic and the safety is high as well. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the evaluation of histomorphometric properties after injection of plasma. METHODS: Thirty rats were divided randomly into three groups: control group (normal saline), PRP and PPP (Platelet-Poor Plasma) groups. In order to prepare PRP and PPP, blood samples (1cc) were collected through cardiac puncture and were centrifuged. The upper layer consisted of PPP and lower layer consisted of PRP. The 2% calcium gluconate solution (100 µl) was added to platelet-rich plasma (200 µl) layer to activate platelet. After seven days, the dorsal skin samples were collected. They are cut into 5 to 6 μm thickness sections using paraffin embedding method and were stained by hematoxylin, eosin and Masson’s trichrome. The epidermis, dermis and hypodermis layers of skin, the epithelial thickness of hair root sheath, maximum depth of hair follicles, the thickness of the whole skin, the number of sebaceous glands and hair follicles in the specified scale, finally the number of fibroblast cells and the percent distribution of connective tissue fibers were investigated in histometric structure of the skin and skin appendages. RESULTS: The results of this study indicated that systematic and controlled PRP may have beneficial effects on the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the skin and its appendages. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that growth factors in plasma especially PRP, could be stimulated connective tissue fibroblast of dermal layer in the skin.

BACKGROUND: The most common metal used in the body is iron and since it may produce ROS, it could potentially be a dangerous substance. OBJECTIVES: Regarding the side effects of nanomaterials such as nano iron particles and possibility of environmental contamination including air pollution with nanoscale iron particle, this study was designed to compare the effects of conventional iron oxide with iron oxide nanoparticles, on certain indexes of ovarian tissue in a rat experimental model. METHODS: This animal model was carried out in 5 groups of female rats, including control, iron oxide (15 mg) and iron oxide nanoparticles (5, 15 and 30 mg). The drugs were intraperitoneally injected daily for 16 days. On the seventeenth day the rats were euthanized by chloroform. Ovarian tissue was removed, and histological changes and iron accumulation were assessed by special staining and light microscopy. RESULTS: According to our findings, folliculogenesis was decreased in all groups receiving iron. The number of corpus luteum in the groups receiving different doses of nanoparticle was reduced and the number of atretic follicles was significantly increased in all groups compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, probably iron nanoparticles with impaired cellular oxidative pathways, reduces the number of follicles and corpus luteum and increase atretic follicles by producing oxygen free radicals and destructing microfilaments. This can cause a negative effect on the fertility of female rats.